TB, not the kind of news I was hoping for, but at least I'm not alone in this. :o) I'm going to try and recreate the scene once again, this time rendering at each new additional element in the scene. Maybe I can at least pinpoint which element is causing the problems and work from there. I'll definitely keep ya posted if I manage any concrete results. BTW thanks to Lammoth and Blutone for their time to respond - they've generated ideas I probably wouldn't have tried on my own. If any of you would like to try and check out the file, I'd be glad to submit it here or email. :o) Being pretty busy myself, I certainly understand if there are no takers on this so don't feel compelled by me to do so. :o)